General SportbikesThis area is for sport bike discussion in general. Topics that don't really belong anywhere else can go here. Questions can be answered and addressed to fully understand certain aspects of the sport. If your question is manufacturer specific please post it there.
Sponsored by:
TCX Boots

STODDARD, N.H. (AP) — Best friends since childhood, Dean Stoddard and Christopher Fontaine worked together and played together.

Last year, they bought new Harleys together, and on Friday, they rode together to New Hampshire for the start of the annual Motorcycle Week festivities in Laconia. But a sweeping curve separated them, for good.

Fontaine, 39, of Chicopee, Mass., was one of three men killed when one motorcycle's swerve into oncoming traffic triggered a crash that also injured five people.

Stoddard said he and Fontaine stopped at a gas station in Stoddard on Friday morning, and met a group of five motorcyclists from Connecticut. They all decided to head east to Laconia together. Fontaine and Stoddard were at the back of the pack when one of the Connecticut motorcyclists collided with a Jeep traveling west.

The vehicle lost control and rolled over into the eastbound lane, according to state police, colliding with three other motorcycles.

"All I saw was that Jeep just turning," Stoddard, 41, of East Hampton, Mass., told The Keene Sentinel. "We didn't know where to go."

Stoddard's Harley hit the back of the Jeep, he said. But he managed to get off his bike, uninjured and fully alert. He ran to his friend, but couldn't find a pulse.

"I guess I feel lucky," Stoddard said. "How lucky can I be? I just lost my friend."

Also killed were Steven Leamy, 38, of East Windsor, Conn., and Larry McFetridge, 54, of Bristol, Conn.

Donald Greene, 43, of East Hartford, Conn., was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchock Medical Center, where he was in critical condition. Kurt Neligon, 46, of Granby, Conn., suffered a leg injury. Dean Stoddard, 41, of Easthampton, Mass.; was involved in the crash but wasn't hurt. A seventh motorcyclist was not involved in the crash.

The driver of the Jeep, Deborah Huston, 51, of Bowdoinham, Maine, was treated at the hospital and released, as were two of her passengers.

Stoddard said he checked on the other motorcyclists lying near the Jeep. He couldn't find a pulse on two of them, he said.

"They were all dead right away," Stoddard said. "Three of them were gone like that. The whole scene "was just a mess."

_______________

Heres another, yesterday:

Quote:

DANBURY, N.H. (AP) — A motorcyclist believed to be on his way to New Hampshire's annual Motorcycle Week died Friday when he lost control of his bike and slid across the road into another group of riders, injuring four, police said.

Armand Lavertue of Claremont, 35, was traveling with a group of 10 motorcyclists East on Route 104 in Danbury, in the direction of the gathering. Police said his foot peg caught the pavement as he was attempting a turn and he slid with his bike across the road into the path of five other bikes, all from Massachusetts.

Lavertue died at the scene; four of the other bikers were injured, one seriously. That person was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Route 104 was closed for three hours as crews cleared the accident scene.

Police said speed may have been a factor in the accident, which happened shortly before noon. They don't believe alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash.

The death is the seventh motorcycle fatal in New Hampshire in a week.

__________

Quote:

June 17, 2006

DORCHESTER, N.H. --State police are investigating a fatal motorcycle crash early Saturday morning in which a Connecticut man was killed on a New Hampshire road.

Craig Smith, 42, of Andover, apparently hit a tree while coming around a curve in Dorchester, N.H., police said Saturday.

Smith is the ninth biker killed in the past week -- and the third from Connecticut -- as thousands of motorcyclists traveled to New Hampshire for the annual Bike Week events.

Police said Saturday that they believe Smith was coming from Bike Week festivities in Laconia with a group of riders when he pulled away from the others. He was later found by the side of the road and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police arrested Smith's brother, Chris Smith, 45, of Franklin, Conn., at the accident scene and charged him with driving while intoxicated. Officers are investigating whether alcohol was a factor in Craig Smith's fatal crash, police said.

Two other Connecticut motorcyclists visiting New Hampshire for Bike Week were killed June 9 in a chain-reaction crash between a group of bikers and a motorist.

Steven Leamy of East Windsor and Larry McFetridge of Bristol died in that crash in Stoddard, N.H., and two other Connecticut motorcyclists were injured.

__________

Those are just the ones I could find...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tripped1

If the bike sat at all take the carbs off, strip out all of the rubber and plastic and go APESHIT with a whole can of both carb cleaner and canned air.

I live not too far from Laconia , and it absolutely AMAZES me that more people aren't killed every year during bike week. It seems as if NO ONE wears any gear , let alone a helmet , I see more guys riding without shirts than I do with helmets. I put my bike away at the beginning of bike week , and I'll take it out after the week is over. So many irresponsible idiots riding around out there !
OK , rant mode off

I live not too far from Laconia , and it absolutely AMAZES me that more people aren't killed every year during bike week. It seems as if NO ONE wears any gear , let alone a helmet , I see more guys riding without shirts than I do with helmets. I put my bike away at the beginning of bike week , and I'll take it out after the week is over. So many irresponsible idiots riding around out there !
OK , rant mode off

Its sort of the same situation on Winnipesaukee... Idiots on boats and jet skis. Drinking, etc. Last year we almost hit a little kid and his grandfather on a jet ski who cut us off, probably 15 feet in front of the boat. Its real scary stuff

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tripped1

If the bike sat at all take the carbs off, strip out all of the rubber and plastic and go APESHIT with a whole can of both carb cleaner and canned air.